Microphones

Choosing and using wired mics, capsules and DI boxes.

About Microphones

Microphone choice is decided by the room and the source, not by the price. A cheap dynamic in the right place beats an expensive condenser in the wrong one, and most of the problems blamed on microphones are really problems of pattern, placement and gain structure. These guides cover choosing wired microphones and getting them to behave once they are up.

Choosing live microphones is the starting point: what dynamic and condenser designs actually do differently, where each belongs on a stage, and why polar pattern is the specification to settle first. The pattern decides what the microphone rejects, and on a loud stage rejection is worth more than sensitivity. A supercardioid aimed properly will hold more gain before feedback than a better microphone pointed carelessly.

For vocals, SM58 against Beta 58A against Nexadyne settles the most cross-shopped decision in the catalogue, including what the newer capsule design changes and when the extra output of a supercardioid is a liability rather than a benefit.

Drums are the hardest source to get right and the most rewarding to fix. Miking a drum kit works through three, five, seven and ten microphone plans, kick and snare placement, overhead technique and the phase decisions that make the difference between a kit that sounds like one instrument and one that sounds like a pile of separate boxes.

Speech systems have their own rules. Conference and gooseneck microphones covers lecterns, boardrooms and council chambers, where the system has to work with nobody operating it and where cabling and mixer automation matter more than capsule choice.

Underneath all of it is powering and connection. Phantom power and DI boxes explains P12, P24 and P48, which microphones need it and which are unaffected, what actually damages a ribbon, and how to choose between an active and a passive DI when a keyboard or laptop has to reach a mic input cleanly.